Deciding to share your photo depends on whether
you talk to friends only, and how you feel about hav-
ing your photo publicly available. Consider what your
photo tells people about you, including your age, eth-
nic background, identifiable objects in the back-
ground, economic status, and so on.➟ Consider who you want to use IM with. You create
buddy lists in instant messaging programs and enter
the online addresses of people with whom you want
to exchange instant messages. Most services allow you
to block messages from anyone not on your buddy
list. (See Figure 7-11.) Remember: A friend of a friend
is often a stranger.Figure 7-11
159Chapter 7: Sharing Your Information with Others